When I started editing on Avid many years ago, there was a huge change in workflow for me. I was used to offline editing on computer-controlled VHS editing, it was a cumbersome, error prone system, but it was all we had. When we got our first Avid, we had to learn new ways to do things, not only to accomodate the wonders of non-linear editing, but also to accomodate the limited hard disk space we had. We had a whopping 4 Gigabytes on 2 X 2 GB drives. This meant that as editors, had to be careful in logging and digitizing, which then also made the editing process more streamlined. 10 years ago, I would take the time to log everything myself, and I could be certain that I hadn't missed anything of importance. On a documentary, I could get away with digitizing maybe half the material that was shot.

Nowadays, we have assistants who digitize everything, because storage is so cheap. Is this a better way? I'm not sure. I have to wade through reams of footage to find what I need, but at least it's easy to find and catalog.

The P2 technology reminds me of that old Avid system. It's not for everyone, but for some it's going to be a perfect technology today. 10 years from now, when we're all using solid state storage, we'll look back at the high prices for memory chips and laugh.